


Routine

by arctickchild



Category: Megamind (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Depression, Minor Character Death, Present Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 11:30:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4520238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arctickchild/pseuds/arctickchild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>au where metro man doesn't fake his death like a douche</p>
            </blockquote>





	Routine

**Author's Note:**

> the first thing i have written in months and it's ridiculously angsty and not for any fandoms i have ever written for before. my apologies.
> 
> a clarification to a couple tags: the word "depression" is never mentioned in the fic, but a lot of it is based on my own experience with depression. the character who dies doesn't exactly die on screen, but with metro man's super hearing the death in question does appear. in a manner of speaking.

Metro Man saves the day.

(Metro Man always saves the day.)

~

The warden is waiting at the prison with his typical scowl of disapproving disappointment, which Megamind returns with his typical cheeky grin and witty one-liner. The guards handcuff him and take him from Metro Man once they're inside, as they typically do; the Warden thanks him in the same clipped manner he typically does. Megamind, Metro Man understands, is a source of many conflicting emotions for Warden Jude McCarthy, the same way he is a source of many mixed emotions for his own father; and so Metro Man thanks the warden in his typically boisterous manner.

He almost skips the rest of the interrupted dedication; but he is Metro Man, and so he returns to Metro City and celebrates with the typically adoring crowd, and Metro Man is –

Metro Man is tired.

He locks the doors to the schoolhouse, collapses into bed, and dreams of a world without Metro City in it.

~

The Lord Robert Scott calls him at dawn.

“I saw your performance,” he says distantly. He says everything distantly. “It was very impressive, son.”

It was the same performance they always give, with the conclusion etched in stone long before the stage was set. “Thank you, sir,” Wayne says respectfully.

“Have you considered giving up the old game yet?”

A sigh, too quick for his father to hear. “The people of Metro City need me,” is the automated reply, burned into him through years of repetition. Even if one day he did leave them, it wouldn't be to do his father's wishes. Fifteen years of thinking about it hasn't made becoming an executive robot sound any more appealing.

“We can use your help with the company,” Lord Scott begins, and Wayne resigns himself to going through the old argument, step by step. The same routine; it lost its meaning a long time ago. Go through the motions, he reminds himself. Follow the script as it's been set out for you, and one day the words will have meaning again. One day. Someday.

He hangs up with a dead weight in his stomach, makes himself something to eat, and begins his patrol.

He stops four robberies, an attempted murder, and rescues a cat from a tree. Step, step, step; people thank him for his help, he thanks them for – for something. He doesn't remember why he used to be grateful for this routine. He doesn't remember what gratitude feels like.

Across town someone screams, and work carries on as usual.

~

Megamind breaks out of prison.

Sometimes Metro Man wonders how much effort the warden really puts into keeping him there.

Going through the motions, knowing it won't matter because Megamind is harmless, because he'll be back within a month, and the cycle will repeat again, and again, and again.

A week later he abducts Roxanne Ritchi.

An hour later Roxie is safe, and Megamind gives Metro Man an almost concerned look before he makes his escape. The hero lets him go this time; the kid deserves to enjoy his freedom for a bit.

It isn't until he drops Roxie off at her apartment, and she gives him the same look, that Metro Man realizes he hasn't said anything to either of them since the cameras shut off.

“Sleep well, Roxie,” he offers, and it's a pathetic reassurance that doesn't seem to do much to relax her, but it's all he has left.

He sleeps late the next morning. If anyone notices, they don't dare say anything.

~

The problem, he realizes one day, is that Metro City doesn't need him.

There isn't anything remarkable about the day in question; Megamind is back in prison, a bit battered but otherwise okay. He's foiled a half-dozen robberies and is saving a child who was foolish enough to drift into the deep end of a pool without knowing how to swim; it's a slow morning, granted, but nothing truly special.

Megamind, after all, is not a threat. Most of his job is foiling criminals who would otherwise be the responsibility of the police. Police who, in recent years, have apparently stopped including basic gun safety in their academy curriculum, due in no small part to the fact they never have an opportunity to use their guns.

Metro Man takes care of everything. Megamind, petty crime, minor inconveniences. The people have made him their crutch; don't worry, Metro Man will take care of it. Metro Man will save the day. Metro Man always saves the day.

And then someone dies.

~

It is an accident, technically. An accident that was Megamind's fault. Technically.

Downtown is supposed to be empty. Downtown is usually empty when they fight; while they try not to hurt civilians, buildings don't usually stand up well to Megamind's plots, so between when they're enacted and when the actual fighting begins, people take the opportunity to flee.

Megamind doesn't hear the man scream when his building begins to collapse. Megamind doesn't have super speed and strength that could save him. Megamind doesn't even know there's anyone still in the area.

Metro Man does, but he follows his script. He fights Megamind; he beats Megamind. Megamind holds up his hands in mock surrender. The civilian will be fine. Civilians are always fine; that's a part of the game, after all. They get scared; they get saved; they cheer.

Metro Man hears the man die with a distant, horrified clarity; the sickening squelch of two tons of steel collapsing on a human body, the death rattle of a man with severe asthma only a hundred yards away, the scream of another as they watch the building collapse with their friend still inside.

_Help! Help, please, please, my friend – !_

The squelching doesn't stop with the man's final breath. It isn't until Roxie is throwing herself on him, trying to separate him from Megamind, that he realizes the sound is coming from the impact of his own fists on a now-unconscious supervillain.

The right thing to do would be to take him to the nearest hospital; he could call the warden from there, make sure the genius was getting the necessary treatment, that he would be okay. He looks from Megamind's half-dead body to Roxie's terrified expression, and drops him instead.

“I,” he starts, and can't think of what else to say. Roxie is still staring at him. Megamind whimpers pitifully from the broken asphalt, and Metro Man does the first thing he can think of.

He runs.

~

Megamind is released to the far more experienced care of the prison medic after a few hours in the hospital. The warden calls him, and Wayne lets the man scream obscenities into his voicemail. The mayor calls, talking about a memorial for the dead man and the evil of their resident supervillain, and he lets that go to voicemail, too.

His mother calls. He considers answering that one, and instead turns his phone off.

Roxie calls every day to leave angry messages about Megamind's condition. When his inbox is full, she texts instead. He listens to every message, reads every text, and replies to none of them.

Big blue is recovering; Minion calls him, and Wayne answers that call and listens to the fish's distant assurances that his rival will be okay silently, and struggles on the phrase _I'm sorry_ for three minutes before hanging up without a word.

A memorial is held for a dead man whose name was apparently John Tucker; the mayor talks at length about the depths of Megamind's evil, of how indebted the city is to Metro Man for bringing him to justice. Wayne watches Roxie's coverage of the event from an old school house, filled with his trophies, and is grateful that she delivers the report with the same cold indifference she uses when covering any story she disagrees with.

She comes by the school house after, and Wayne listens from an underground bunker as she shouts insults and breaks whatever trophy cases she can reach.

John Tucker's dying rattle haunts his dreams. He empties his inboxes, voicemail and messaging, and follows Megamind's recovery through texts from Roxanne that get increasingly more distant, and calls from Minion that grow steadily angrier.

He's okay. He's expected to make a full recovery. Four months after John Tucker died, Megamind breaks out of prison, and proceeds to do nothing for six weeks.

~

Metro Man keeps up his patrols. He saves people, thanks them for their praise with a smile that feels like blood on his hands, and waits for Megamind to plan some elaborate but ultimately ineffective comeback scheme. He doesn't; the supervillain seems to drop off the map after he escapes from prison. Roxie stops calling. He should feel guilty; he should be relieved that nothing has happened; he should be proud of how quickly Metro City recovers from the tragedy.

He thinks of how his body count is higher than Megamind's, and all he feels is a deep, unshakable exhaustion.

He answers his father's next call, “I'm not joining the company,” and hangs up.

He calls the head editor of KMCP and asks for a press conference.

~

Exactly twelve months after the museum dedication, Metro Man stands in front of the same crowd of thousands and announces his retirement.

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to Rey (whimsical-asshole.tumblr.com) for reading through this for me first. Love you, mom.


End file.
